'Traditional residency' a trucker school priority

State wants those hitting the roads to have roots

The state wants people who receive commercial driver licenses to be more rooted in Tennessee, the Department of Safety commissioner indicated this week.

Commissioner Dave Mitchell, in the Millington area for a large disaster-response drill, responded to questions about the state and federal crackdown on a truck-driving school in Millington.

Swift Driving Academy has had a lease arrangement with a Millington motel, which has served as the Tennessee "residence" for thousands of students who've come from around the country to get a truck-driving license.

"A lot of these are not drivers from Tennessee," Mitchell said.

"We're looking for more of a traditional residency."

The typical Swift course and testing last 22 days. At any one time, 200 to 400 students would be housed at the Admiralty Suites & Inn.

But state law requires an applicant for the licenses to have first lived in Tennessee 30 days.

Tennessee and other states have not strictly enforced the residency law, Rex Lovell, the Admiralty's general manager, has said.

But Mitchell said this week, "You can absolutely print this: Tennessee is going to ensure we comply by that statute."

Swift Driving Academy leases office space and training ground from the Millington Industrial Development Board at the West Tennessee Regional Business Center.

Federal and state authorities raided the site, as well as the Swift trucking terminal in Memphis, on Feb. 25.

The Department of Safety immediately ended a special arrangement that made it easier for Swift graduates to receive licenses.

Some Swift employees were specially trained to administer driving tests on behalf of the state. The program is called third-party testing.

Plus, the state did something for Swift it did for no other business in the state: It placed state employees and a driver's license center on the Swift property in Memphis.

Both Swift's third-party testing and its license center have been shut down.

"We're going to have to look at that type relationship in the future," Mitchell said this week.

Meanwhile, a federal grand jury is looking into possible charges in the case.

Mitchell acknowledged that the investigation also has focused on the Department of Safety's process.

"It's the state's responsibility to make sure our testing process is done correctly," he said. "Especially for commercial licenses."

The Admiralty and the City of Millington have much at stake.

Swift pays the motel more than $1 million a year for its rooms.

Instead of up to 400 Swift students before the FBI raid, only 45 were housed at the Admiralty on Tuesday, Lovell said.

Should the driving academy ever decide to leave Millington, the industrial development board would lose its largest tenant.

Swift lease payments account for about half the board's revenue.

Over the past three years, 10,758 students have come from across the nation to graduate and get licenses, Lovell has said.